Railgate-reports

Railway bribery scam: A return gift by CBI director Ranjit Sinha?

by FP Staff May 6, 2013

Last year, when the UPA stonewalled the stiff opposition of the BJP in appointing Ranjit Sinha as the CBI director, would it have ever imagined that their chosen man would bring them big trouble in near future?
If he exposed the meddling of the government in Coalgate investigation probably under the fear of judicial reprimand, the bribery expose against Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal’s nephew appears to be his personal contribution.

Ranjit Sinha: Image from PIB

Thanks to his earlier posting in the Railway Protection Force and subsequent exit when Mamata Banerjee became the Railway minister, Ranjit Sinha apparently knew what was going on and had reportedly asked the CBI to keep a watch on Mahesh Kumar, who had allegedly offered the bribe to Bansal’s kin, and others as early as November.
Kumar was apparently close to Mamata Banerjee and was working towards becoming the Chairman of the Railway Board. The first step towards this was to become a member of the Board. Sensing his move, Sinha had asked his officers to keep a close watch on him and his associates, reported Malayala Manorama on Sunday.
With contracts and procurements worth crores of rupees, Indian Railways reeks of corruption. Apparently, electrical contracts are worth at least 2000 crores a year – no marks for guessing why Kumar wanted a shift from his current position of member (staff) to member (electrical).
It has to be seen if the case ends with Kumar and his acolytes or will lead to a all-encompassing enquiry in to the complex web of corruption in this public sector behemoth that dabbles in big money. During the 12th Plan period, the Railways will get Rs 1.94 lakh crores from the government and the Railway Board takes the final call on how it is spent.